Welcome to the Reactor Institute Delft

In this movie, you will have a look inside the dome of the Reactor Institute Delft. You can see the nuclear reactor that produces the radiation we use to do research with.

During the visit we show you the radiation levels in and around the reactor building. This so-called radiation dose is expressed in the units nanosievert (nSv) and microsievert (µSv = 1000 nSv). The average background radiation you can measure in the Netherlands varies up to 100 nanosievert (0.1 microsievert) per hour. In other countries these levels can be up to ten times higher, depending on the material in the soil.

The highest radiation level during the movie is measured just above the waterlevel in the reactor pool: 60 microsievert per hour. During a guided tour, we will only stay a few minutes on a bridge above the pool. The total dose during a guided tour is between 4 and 6 microsievert; this is the same dose you receive in two days because of natural background radiation, or in one hour in a plane at 10 km heighth. To compare: a chest X-ray will cause a radiation dose of 20 microsievert and a CT-scan even several millisieverts (mSv = 1000 µSv). Even in these levels, you do not have to worry about adverse effects of radiation.